The Association of Americans Resident Overseas estimated that approximately 6.32 million U.S. citizens lived abroad in over 160 countries during 2011. This figure does not include members of the U.S. military serving abroad. Many U.S. citizens have left for other countries because they cannot find U.S.-based jobs due to the recession that began in 2008. Applicants for overseas positions should keep in mind that working abroad can have serious drawbacks, negatively affecting marriages, health, and finances.

Overview

A 2013 presentation for an International Society of Travel Medicine symposium noted that typical expatriate employee problems include loneliness, culture shock, difficulty communicating in a foreign language, transportation problems, barriers to medical care and professional services, exposure to violence and poverty, stressful living conditions, harsher climates, increased environmental pollution, escalated risk of catching infectious diseases, coping with coworkers' unrealistic expectations of self-sufficiency, and uncertainty about expatriation's effect on one's career. Expatriate workers also face a number of complicated financial management issues, because they often use bank accounts, manage investments, own or rent homes and pay taxes in both the U.S. and the country they're living in.

Trailing Spouses

Expatriate employees may also face increased family problems, as trailing spouses -- spouses and unmarried partners who accompany them overseas -- often cannot find appropriate jobs in a foreign country, and become emotionally and financially more dependent on the employed expatriate spouse. A 2008 Permits Foundation report found nearly 25 percent of the surveyed spouses and partners reported their significant others had previously rejected an overseas assignment because it might harm a spouse's or partner's career, and seven percent terminated an overseas assignment early due to concerns about a spouse's or partner's career.

Tax Problems

Both U.S. citizens and U.S. resident aliens living abroad are required to pay U.S. taxes as well as foreign taxes. As of 2013, only two countries in the world -- the United States and Eritrea -- attempted to tax all of their citizens living overseas. U.S. citizens and resident aliens living overseas are required to file U.S. tax forms even in years when they do not owe any U.S. taxes. Tax problems for U.S. citizens and resident aliens living abroad have been increased by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FACTA. FACTA was designed to catch wealthy American tax evaders who were stashing funds in foreign accounts, but it has also entangled millions of U.S. nationals working overseas. For example, FACTA has caused some U.S. expatriates to lose or be denied overseas bank accounts and mortgages because foreign banks in some countries must now report to the IRS about accounts held by U.S. citizens and these banks are unwilling to function as IRS watchdogs.

Outlook

In 2007, members of the U.S. House of Representatives formed a bipartisan caucus to advocate for expatriates' needs, the Americans Abroad Caucus. As of 2013, two organizations, the Association of Americans Resident Overseas and American Citizens Abroad, collect information about American expatriates and lobby Congress on their behalf. People interested in working overseas should contact these organizations for information on ways to avoid the drawbacks of employment abroad.

About the Author

Robin Elizabeth Margolis is a freelance writer in the Washington, D.C., area. She has been writing about health care, science, nutrition, fitness and law since 1988, and served as the editor of a health law newsletter. Margolis holds a bachelor of arts degree in biology, a master's degree in counseling and a paralegal certificate.